Sentimental Labyrinth
by Kaori-chan2
Summary: SxN: Night after night, they meet each other on deck - completely by coincidence of course… or is it? COMPLETE.
1. Rendezvous

**AN: **Since I'm having a terrible writer's block with my 30 kisses challenge, I tried writing something else to get my mind off of it and relax, so this short story came out. Five chapters, five weeks. Each week one chapter. Sounds fair, right?

Plus, I feel like SxN doesn't get enough love lately. No fair. D:

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**1st: **Rendezvous

She couldn't _believe_ what she was doing.

Even when she had still been lying peacefully in her hammock, tossing and turning from one side to the other almost in a minute cycle and eventually just simply staring at the ceiling, she already felt infinitely stupid. And the feeling even increased when she had come to the lunatic decision to give in to the nearly unbearable urge to stand up. Her sense of shame had grown with every step towards the trap door, and with every single inch said trap door was opened, more and more heat rushed into her cheeks. And the moment she was finally standing on deck in the middle of the night and all by herself, the dimension of embarrassment that her behavior held was nearly _embarrassing_.

_Nami, what the hell are you doing?_

It was a question that she kept on asking herself in an infinite loop ever since she left her comforting bed. But she just didn't have an answer to it in no case. She didn't _know_ what she was doing. Or to put it frankly: She _knew_ what she was doing, she just didn't know _why_. Of course she _did_ know why, but the true reason behind her being here was so moronic, insane, so infinitely paradox and absolutely wrong-headed and so not _her _and so _incredibly unthinkable_ that she truly didn't dare to think it. If only because the mere thought already stirred the desire inside of her to slap herself hard, it was just _crackbrained_ like that.

_No, honestly, Nami, you better think really really really carefully: What are you DOING here?_

After she had walked to the stern first, then all the way back to the bow and then back to the spot where she had started, she came to an abrupt halt as she began to tear at her hair, nearly furious. It was a true laughing matter. She _should_ laugh. She never even read about something so ridiculous in some kind of _novels_. It was so embarrassing, so _idiotic_ and damned infantile, but it was completely _pointless_ to be reluctant, because she just kept doing it again and again for a reason that was entirely beyond her. An outsider definitely would have declared her insane for the way she was running around the ship like a beheaded chicken, inwardly fighting with herself and massaging her hands as though she was hatching some kind of devilish plan while she paused from time to time to wonder about _what the hell she was doing_.

_Nami, you're officially insane._

It was ridiculous.

Ri-di-cu-lous.

Ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous.

_Nami, it's RIDICULOUS!_

She stole a peep on the place where she assumed the reason for her lunacy to be. She bit her lower lip, ashamedly, and glared icy looks of death at the door as though she was hoping the galley would actually _explode_ if she only concentrated on it long enough.

_Nami, LET IT BE and GO TO BED!_

She would _not_ do it. She would turn around now and go back to bed, since that was the place where every mentally sane human belonged to at this kind of late hour. Ah, right, she _wasn't_ mentally sane anymore. Which was the reason for her lack of sleep in the first place. And also the reason why she was standing outside on the deck and staring at the galley in the middle of the night like a lunatic. But she would still most definitely _not_ do it.

_That's a good girl. Yes, that's right, just leave._

She turned around and walked back to the trap door with a determined expression. What a laugh. As if it wasn't already enough that she had been doing it several nights before this one. It was becoming way too obvious for her taste. And the reason for her lunacy did have a _brain_. Besides, she still possessed something like self-esteem and most importantly self-_control_. And of course common sense. What she was doing here was simply _stupid_.

Satisfied with herself, she bent down to open the trap door. Time to turn in.

_Exactly: Time to turn in._

Before her hand could grasp the handle, she paused and gulped as she peeked back at the galley from the corner of her eyes, still hunkered down. On the other hand, she was already here anyway… After all, a teensy-weensy glance inside couldn't hurt, right? Just to check it up…

Honestly, what was the big deal anyway?

_What's the big deal? A freebie-disgrace of course! Come to your senses, Nami!_

Oh, screw it. She would definitely just take a really, really short peek through the porthole. Just to make sure if the reason for her lunacy was really there or not. And she would scram right after it, for sure. She would _not_ go inside. She just wanted to know if _he_ was inside.

_And what if he's there? You'll just make a fool of yourself!_

One glance and she would be gone.

_Tch, suit yourself then. Just don't say I didn't warn you._

By the time she arrived at the galley, her heart already felt like a rock drill. Contrary to the shouts of protest inside of her head, she stood on tiptoes and peered over the edge of the porthole inside – and her mood instantly sank to bottomless dimensions. Alright, so she should have guessed it, since the lights were turned off, but there still _had_ been the itsy-bitsy chance that maybe possibly _hopefully_ he could have been there.

Her bare heels touched the ground in disappointment as she blew an unhappy sigh through her pout. It would have been an outstanding miracle if happenstance would have done her bidding _forever_ anyway. She couldn't have it all.

_So you're disappointed now? Rather, be happy about it! You were spared of an awful disgrace._

Her inner voice was an utterly heartless bitch, she realized. As cold as the north pole and absolutely mean and cruel.

_I'm just the little bit of reason you idiot have left!_

She turned to scuffle back to the trap door, looking crestfallen. Actually, it was true. She _should_ be happy that she didn't make a fool of herself at least. And now that the excitement was over, she even felt a gush of tiredness scraping at her consciousness like a wave before it broke.

"Ah, good morning there, my Nami-san!"

In an instant, she was as wide awake as though there was coffee in her blood.

_All right, Nami, a fine mess you've made._

Nami nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of _that_ voice. She spun around to him in downright horror, with eyes as big as saucers, to catch sight of the blond cook of this ship, and he was offering her such an honest, seriously _happy_ grin that her shock slowly evaporated and an irritated expression appeared on her face. Just acting normal. Everything was perfectly normal. Staying normal and keep on glaring.

"Oh, it's just _you_, Sanji-kun," she said and actually managed to sound indifferently. "Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Sanji gave her a deep but amused laugh. "I'm sorry, my angel. I'll be careful from now on," he replied before an oddly unsettling smile appeared on his lips. "It sure is a funny coincidence that we keep on running into each other every night lately… Don't you think?"

Nami's heart instantly sank down to her feet as she just stood there, stark as stiff, with a strange expression gracing her face as if she just turned into a pillar of salt.

_OH MY GOD, HE KNOWS!_

No, wait a second, she needed to calm down and think logically. She absolutely must _not_ pointlessly drive herself crazy or panic here but rather keep cool, after all there did exist the tiny, really microscopically possibility that she was once again reading way too much into it while he was just simply trying to flirt with her like he always did. Even when his knowing, nearly teasing grin told her a whole _different_ thing right now.

Nami gulped before she finally found her voice to speak. "Well, crazy things do happen once in a while, eh?" she smiled nervously.

"True, but it almost feels like we're having a _rendezvous_ every night." His grin became a bit more teasing, nearly _mischievous_ even.

Nami actually stopped breathing for a full minute.

_Oh God, he REALLY knows!_

It was official. Sanji knew _everything_. It was totally obvious. His eyes were speaking volumes and his grin was the final evidence. He _knew_ why she was coming here every single damn night and he was enjoying it _completely_, it was as sure as eggs were eggs. It was her own fault anyway – she couldn't have been any _more_ obvious!

_Okay, Nami, retreat! Meep, meep, meep! Red alert! Leave as long as you still can!_

A withdrawal really was the only good strategy right now. "Whatever," she said, waving it off and turning around. "I'm leaving then. See you at breakfast!"

And now quickly back to the trap door before he could actually decide to _say_ it.

"You're doing it on purpose. Admit it."

_Too late. Game over._

Nami immediately turned as pale as ashes.

She really needed to pull herself together to even turn around to him again, although with an utterly shocked expression plastered on her pretty face. Sanji offered her a triumphantly grin, a cigarette dangling from between his lips and his hands dug deeply into his pockets as he leaned backwards against the ship's rail. Nami was fumbling for words in complete befuddlement for a while until a perplexed smile appeared on her lips.

"What is it that I'm doing on purpose, Sanji-kun?"

_That's right, excellent! Keep on playing innocent!_

"Coming here at night," Sanji answered after he took a deep draw on his cigarette, his grin slowly transforming to a joyous smile. "You're hoping to meet me, aren't you?"

_God, you SO blew your cover, damn you._

Fortunately for her, there was her good old inborn safety mechanism that dependably always payed off in exactly these kind of dicey situations just at the right moment: She arched her eyebrows at the blond chef in utter disbelief, pursing her lips and stemming her hands in her sides.

"Tch," she ground out with spite, almost admiring herself at how indifferently she could act, even though on the inside she was nearly eaten alive by her panic. "Aren't you just full of yourself!"

Sanji gave a gentle laugh; he was obviously enjoying this subject. "C'mon, Nami-san, we know it both. It can't be a mere _coincidence_ anymore that you're always here when I'm also here ."

Damn it, why in the hell did that stupid cook have to be so darned _clever_?

She crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her eyes and looking away to avoid turning red in a moment such as _this_. "You should wake up from your dream, if you ask me. This is _reality_, you know."

"Oh, so you _always_ put make-up on when you need to use the bathroom or something?"

"…"

_Okay. Crap._

"Heh," Sanji grinned, visibly having a ripping good time over the vision of her being in a state of absolute speechlessness. "Admit it. You like me, Nami-san."

_Jackpot._

She felt an unpleasant form of heat gradually creeping into her cheeks. But no panic, she had to stay cool. She needed to keep on denying and playing innocent.

"We're nakama. Of course I like you."

Sanji's grin couldn't be any more wide and teasing; was that guy being _spiteful_?

"No, no, no. You _like_ me."

_Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot._

Nami did _not_ like the way he pronounced that _word_ even one bit.

"… you're out of your mind."

"It's not very believable when you're blushing like that."

Her cheeks abruptly heated up even _more_ upon hearing that, making her feel as though she was on the brink of spoiling by too high annealing temperatures. And when Sanji, who didn't miss a bit of it, even gave a self-confident snicker, she instantly realized that she had to _leave_. Or else she wouldn't be able to guarantee for anything anymore.

"This -- this is ridiculous, I'm going back to bed," she declared with an angry scowl, turning around and walking off with her head held high.

Sanji, who just couldn't get rid of that stupid grin on his face as he was enjoying the unique feeling of coming out on _top_ for a change way too much, calmly flicked his cigarette overboard, surveying full of admiration how perfectly the moonlight had all of the perfect parts of Nami's without a doubt perfect body look even more perfect as her hips were seductively swinging back and forth – and his grin grew.

He just couldn't help it.

"Tomorrow night, same time?"

Nami abruptly came to a halt, but she refused to turn around to him; if only because she was afraid that she would have to smack that incredibly dense-looking grin right off his face if she did.

"… Good night, Sanji-kun."

There was a laugh of anticipation.

"Heh. I'll be looking forward to it."

Nami was feeling as though a giant volcano exploded right beneath her cheeks by now. She just wanted to leave. Leave, go back to bed, not think of a single thing until tomorrow morning. Just sleeping. Sleeping real tight and peacefully. And no dreaming, please.

She had embarrassed herself enough for one day.

**tbc**


	2. Malfunction

**AN: **So here's the second chapter.Sorry for the little delay, but I totally forgot to upload it. D:  
Thank you so much for your positive reviews! I sincerely thought there'd be almost no SxN fans left here, but I'm glad I was obviously wrong. :D

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**2nd: **Malfunction

"You should take a nap."

Bewildered, Nami's head surfaced from her arm-crest that made her position at the kitchen table look as though the navigator had not slept for weeks; which wasn't even _that_ wrong. Her face wasn't harboring the secret very convincingly either: Her eyelids were closed to the half, barely visible bags had formed right beneath the lower eyelids and if that wasn't already enough, she didn't even bother to put any make-up on, not to mention her messy hair.

Zoro, who was sitting next to her, actually _startled_ at her vision.

"Holy fucking shit," he gasped with a hand clasped over his heart. "You look like a some really scary ghost!"

Nami was way too tired to get realistically mad at him. "Oh yeah?" she snarled in irritation. "And you, you have _green hair_!"

Zoro grimaced in sympathy. "Nami, _go sleep_."

"I'm perfectly _fine_, thank you very much," the red-head snapped downright aggressively. "And besides, who's going to bring the ship safely through the next storm when I'm asleep, huh? _You_, oh Master of all Directions?"

"Tch, please yourself then," Zoro grumbled as he leaned back against the wall of the galley with his hands crossed behind his head – nobody messed with his sense of orientation. "That's what you get for being worried over the spawn of hell."

Nami launched out a small guilty sigh upon hearing that as her head sank back into her arms, however her gaze was still directed at Zoro. She knew that the swordsman was only being worried, but she had slept so _damn little_ the past few nights that she wasn't in command of her senses anymore, thus being even more bitchy than usual. She was overly aware of the fact that she wasn't being very fair to her friends – she should have been nicer when Usopp had asked after her before and she also shouldn't have bawled out at Luffy just because he wanted her to pull at his finger. She had even put off Robin in a pretty unfriendly manner which was _really_ rare.

Nami gave another sigh before she blushed a bit in shame.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" she murmured and looked away. "I shouldn't have bitched at you like that. It's just that lately I'm… well…"

Zoro nodded in comprehension and waved it off. "Never mind, never mind. It's _that_ time of the month, no big deal."

Nami glared at him. "It's _not_ that time of the month."

"Oi, there's no need for you to feel embarrassed over it, every woman goes through that…"

"But it's _not_ that time of the month!"

"C'mon, you really think I'd _laugh_ about you? It's totally normal that--"

"I DON'T HAVE MY PERIOD, DAMN IT!"

Her sharp cry instantly hushed the swordsman, eyes wide as he shrank back from her a bit. Nami flopped back down on the corner seat after she had jumped up to bang her hands onto the table so hard that Zoro briefly wondered if the wood was going to break beneath her punch. In the next moment she already felt sorry for her conniption, and took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. Honestly, where was that little control freak inside her head when she _really_ needed it?

"I don't have it," she repeated, quieter this time.

Zoro, still appalled, nodded haggardly. "Jeez, it's okay, woman. I get it already."

"Oi, listen, you guys!" There were muffled voices from outside on deck. "False alarm! Nami doesn't have her period at all!"

"What, seriously!? And I was so sure, too! Damn it!"

"Usopp, you owe me 100 Beri!"

Nami shot gloomy death glares at the galley door as if she was trying to send out hard X-rays that would pulverize everyone outside on deck to piles of ashes in an instant. "Those idiots," she cursed quietly as she turned away. "They shouldn't take a bet over nothing more than 100 ridiculous Beri."

"Isn't there anything else inside your chest other than one giant Beri-sign there where most people have a heart?" Zoro remarked absolutely rhetorical. "Must be sad."

Nami glared furiously at him. "What do _you_ know--"

"Shouldn't somebody ask that question who has a heart himself?"

The navigator spun around to the door in confusion while Zoro's face already darkened immensely, becoming an even harder expression of pure irritation as the reason for it simply offered a smug grin – Sanji calmly walked into the galley, making a beeline for Nami to take her hand into his and kneel down before her.

"Oh heavenly epiphany!" he breathed smoothly, unmistakably dancing on Cloud Nine. "How gruesome must those outrageous words of that graveyard for brains have been? Say only one word and I'll personally throw him overboard!"

"_Who's_ a graveyard for brains, huh!? You sound like you didn't taste steel for a long, long while, you pathetic little _soft-cock_!"

"That must be because I'm just so much more _gracile_ and _faster_ than you sluggish gorilla!"

"Oho, more _gracile_ it is! What a _cute_ coming-out!"

"I DARE YOU TO SAY THAT AGAIN!"

"Queer fruitcake!"

Nami was pretty happy about Zoro immediately responding to the provocative remarks, since Sanji at least didn't notice her cheeks heating up like that, and she could easily liberate her hand from his grasp. Thank God that Zoro obviously wasn't as useless as Sanji always made him out to be. She breathed a relieved sigh of satisfaction.

While one foot and one sword came crashing onto each other just above the table, Nami brought her hand over her mouth when a loud yawn attacked her, completely oblivious to the both guys fighting. And most importantly: She never even tried to _end_ the fight somehow like she usually did.

Sanji and Zoro immediately quick-froze at the sound of her yawn.

"Okay, _that_ really can't be the period anymore," Zoro murmured in befuddlement as he slowly let his sword sink down again. "What _is_ the matter with you?"

Nami looked away to hide the blush on her cheeks. "Nothing."

Suddenly conscious of guilt and with a concerned expression, Sanji scratched at the back of his head and bashfully glanced aside; he _knew_ what was wrong with her. "I'm sorry," he murmured sheepishly, a very vague blush popping through his golden bangs which made Nami blink in bewilderment. "I'll go get you a coffee from the store room, Nami-san."

Before Nami could reply anything, Sanji had already flounced out of the galley.

"Why's _that_ guy sorry?" Zoro murmured all of a dither as he nestled back on the corner seat. "Acting as if it was actually _his_ fault that you don't get enough of sleep and all…" He launched out an amused, throaty laugh. "As if you'd ever start something with _him_! Pfft, jeez, the very _idea_ already cracks me up…"

Zoro kept on talking. Or maybe not. Nami hadn't been listening to him in the first place anyway as she was much too busy watching the ship's cook through the porthole scolding Luffy and Usopp for some rubbish they had once again gotten their selves into. She _loved_ the way his cheeks heated up whenever he was upset. He always used to haphazardly swirl his cigarette around as though he was trying to write a phrase into the air with smoke; it was so _adorable_. So adorable that she didn't even notice how a dreamy expression spread on her face. Not even when she gave an absentminded giggle.

Zoro on the other hand didn't miss out even one bit of it.

"What the _fuck_…" he spluttered in utter horror. "NAMI!?"

At that, something inside of her head _finally_ clicked and she found herself crushing back to earth in a quite painful way: Her subconscious acted, taking over the control of her body and planting a slap in her own face with her own hand for her to realize _what the hell she was doing_. Fortunately, she didn't see Zoro's downright _frightened_ stare, and honestly, who could blame him for his horror over _that_ kind of state?

"Oh my God. Oh God, oh God, oh God," she babbled, completely dumbfounded about her own antics as her hands cupped her deathly pale face. "What the hell did I just _do_?"

That was when Zoro snapped out from his state of shock. "Rather, _you_ tell me what the hell you were doing just now!"

"I have no _idea_ what I was doing just now!" Nami shrieked, nearly panicking.

"Oh really! Because it sure looked a damn hell of a lot as if you were _ogling_ the fag!"

And before she was able to even begin to think straight, reflex won over habit, reason and normality as she furiously grasped for the swordsman's collar and threateningly bent down to him until the tips of their noses were almost touching. Never had Nami looked so similar to a demon as she did in this very moment, he would have sworn an _oath_.

Zoro would never admit it openly, but he was _scared_.

"TAKE. THAT. BACK."

"Okay, okay, so you didn't _ogle_ the fag then, but--"

"Sanji-kun is _not_ a FAG!" Nami snapped so dangerously that Zoro actually choked out a small cry.

"All right! ALL RIGHT! He's _not_ a fag!" he croaked, almost all out of air because her grasp on him was so tight. "There, I said it, now let the hell go!"

Her anger evaporated just as sudden as it had welled up inside of her, probably because of the blue coloration of Zoro's face and his obvious near-death experience. Blinking in wonder and with a nearly innocent expression, she let go of his collar whereon he launched out an odd sounding groan, rubbing over his neck as though he had been strangled. Thoroughly embarrassed, she let herself sink back down onto the bench, bashfully clearing her throat before she awkwardly ran a hand through her red-orange hair, ruffling them until they were hiding her crimson cheeks beneath them.

"Sorry," she mumbled quickly.

"Jeez, you're in one hell of a strange mood today," Zoro growled peevishly, shooting her a brief glare. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're having the _hots_ for that damned chef…"

Nami's cheeks abruptly colored in a dark crimson red and a faint gasp came over her lips as the swordsman's eyes widened to the size of plates in complete horror and his jaw snapped open in shock.

It immediately sunk in.

"You… you… don't tell me you…" he stammered completely agitated, weirdly pointing with the finger at her.

With a desperate noise of helplessness, Nami let her forehead sink down onto the table and tore at her hair, her face barely distinguishable from the reddish orange of her hair. "I -- I don't even know myself, damn it! I don't know anything at all!"

Zoro was still horrified. "You… with _him_… oh jeez…"

"Would you please not say it as if it was some kind of _disease_?" Nami hissed with a glare, but promptly began to stammer in embarrassment again. "It's just… I'm… it's odd, but I… it's… argh, I don't _know_ what it is!"

"So you're…" Zoro was completely incapable of _saying_ it, which was why he tried to continue the sentence with his eyes.

He was more than glad that it worked. "Yes! I mean _no_! I mean…" Nami babbled in befuddlement, her cheeks flushed before she narrowed her eyes to a threatening glare, deciding to leave it with that vague answer and instead taking care of business. "Just to make myself clear: Don't you _dare_ to breathe even one tiny word about this to a soul out there, Roronoa Zoro! Or else, and _this_ I swear to God, you will curse the day you borrowed money from me, because I _will_ make you pay ten times for every single Beri each!"

Zoro gulped. He didn't believe in God; but if there was one thing on this planet that was just as sure as that God did not exist, then it was the fact that Nami would definitely make _all_ of her threats come true. But he mustn't show her any fear. He had been hunting in the wilderness more than enough in the past for him to know that beasts like Nami could _smell_ the fear and he was _sweating_ inside the stifling galley when it was so devilishly hot outside.

"Jeez, chill out, Satania," he muttered with an expression that looked like 'irritated', but was in truth 'total intimidation'. "I'd only deliver that ero-cook any news out of my own free will if it'd be something _bad_… which _this_ clearly isn't."

Nami returned the stare with a scowl as she based her head on her palms. "God, of all people that I call my friends, why did it have to be _you_ who finds out?"

The swordsman launched out a huffy growl. "You mean, because I'm the only one on this ship who can openly tell you right in your face without feeling bad about it that the asshat-cook obviously is a god damn cheater?"

Usually, Nami definitely would have yelled at him for that remark. Zoro even mentally ran for cover, but oddly enough the expected blow-up failed to rain down on him. Merely a crestfallen sigh came over the navigator's lips as she stared at the table with cheerless eyes, downright _depressed_.

"Yeah, that's exactly why, Zoro."

Zoro realized in shock that he _did_ feel bad.

He was even more shocked over feeling the urgent need to _help_ her in some way. Of course he was as skilled in terms of sensitiveness as an elephant at ballet, which was why _he_ was most definitely the last one on this ship whose wisdom could be compared to another woman's. However, he did have enough notion of those things to know what was the best solution for her problems.

"Guess it's worth a try."

Nami looked up in bewilderment, arching a brow at him.

The swordsman indifferently shrugged his shoulders. "No risk, no fun. Just talk to him about everything and that's it."

After all the time he had known Nami, he still completely failed to remember a very important fact: No matter when, no matter where, and no matter why, Nami _would_ get mad at totally random moments for the most random things and thus was _a loose cannon_. Which was the case in this very moment as her fist met up with the back of Zoro's head with full throttle, making his face nearly collide with the table and leaving behind a _giant_ lump.

"AS IF IT WAS THAT EASY, YOU MORON!" she yelled furiously before jumping up and glaring down at him. "Just what in the hell came over me that I believed I could hope for a bit understanding from a guy like _you_!? When I should actually _know_ by now that you're the most mannerless, insensitive and heartless guy in the whole Grand Line! You blockhead! ARGH!"

Zoro rubbed over the throbbing lump on his head in annoyance, shooting icy death glares after her when she, her pride and honor deeply offended, straightened up and flounced out of the galley, her head held high.

"Jeez…" he muttered. "Why go the easy way if there's also a hard one, eh?"

Immensely pissed off, he crossed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and ordering his body to take a nap right now. He really needed some major relaxation after Nami had inspired a strange sort of lust to kill in him.

"She's so much more _bearable_ when she's got her period."

He did feel sorry for that stupid chef. A tiny bit.

**tbc**


	3. Nonstandard

**AN: **Third chaptter, yay! Again it's a little late, but I had a few problems with my computer. D:  
Thank you for all your reviews. You really make me happy. 3

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**3rd: **Nonstandard

It was enough to drive her insane, if she wasn't already.

Sighing, Nami sat back at the afterdeck, leaning against the wall and tucking up her legs really close to her chest to rest her chin on her knees. She felt pretty safe back here as she took a deep breath of the calming scent her tangerine grove directly above her was emitting and listened to the gentle rustling of the leaves. The most things happened at the bow of the ship anyway, so the afterdeck was the perfect choice when one of them was looking for some alone time, and _she_ really needed it badly.

_What's up with me?_

Sighing deeply and sorrowful, the navigator began to paint small, invisible curlicues on the prudish wood of the deals with her index finger. The whole thing really wasn't funny anymore – it was rather _depressing_. She couldn't recall that she had _ever_ acted like this before. Generally speaking as well as concerning her friends. Zoro really had gotten right into the destructive range of her confused wrath, but fortunately that guy knew how to handle her little twirks much better than other certain people, like Chopper for example who didn't even dare to address her anymore. She would even bet that Zoro had long slept the whole thing away, thus already wiped it off of his memory.

_But still. It's not normal._

With a squeaky sound of despair, Nami squeezed her eyes together so firmly that her head began to ache a little, and languidly let herself slowly fall to the side until she was lying on the ground, legs still tucked up. There she opened her eyes; when the sun tickled on her face, she felt a bit dizzy. Nice mess, really.

_It's all his fault._

Exactly. _He_ was the culprit, it was _his_ fault that she was situated in a state that was slowly assuming alarming proportions. Just because _he_ was so damn good-looking, _she_ was feeling so bad. Because he always _had_ to go and be so darn _charming_ and _obliging_ to her; Nami _loved_ the fact that he was constantly offering her his undivided attention as soon as she entered a room. And as if that wasn't enough already, he also posessed that indescribably _adorable_ grin that had her knees melt every single damn time she saw it. Not to mention the gentle but manly voice, those broad shoulders, that perfect chest…

She abruptly clasped her hands over her face, cheeks flushing beneath her fingers.

It was weird. Her feelings didn't just suddenly change overnight, but it still hit her completely unexpectedly somehow, just like a hard kick into her guts. The _realization_ that was turning her world upside down. It had developed really leisurely, but now that it was like _this_, it still felt a bit like a lightning stroke. Even though he, when she was really, really honest, had always been a little _more_ than everyone else.

_He's always been Sanji-'kun'._

Nami bit her lower lip, pressing her cheeks closer to the cooling wood to bring her temperature down a few degrees. She wasn't even sure anymore _why _she was only adding a suffix to _his_ name. Was it to keep a certain distance? Because he was treating her different as well? Or was it merely out of respect? She didn't know. She didn't even give it that much thought, it had just come naturally. He had always been Sanji-kun and she had always been Nami-_san_.

_Though he even addresses an adult woman such as Robin with 'chan'._

Only _Nami_ had ever received a 'san' from him.

The realization actually managed to put the first small smile of this day on her lips. Maybe, but really just _maybe_, she wasn't going insane here for nothing after all. She was allowed to have a few hopes, right? Not too many, but a few really itsy-bitsy hopes couldn't hurt anybody. Not necessarily at least.

"So _this_ is where you're hiding, Nami-chan."

Nami opened her eyes in bewilderment when a shadow cast over her, moving her head only so much that she was able to spot the owner of said shadow. The first thing she caught sight of was a really beautiful smile. Nico Robin was standing there, as nobly as an old Roman statue, smiling down at the navigator with the courteous expression of a concerned mother while Nami pursed her lips with a sigh.

"Hellooo," the younger one breathed like a picture of pure misery.

That raised an amused giggle from Robin before she kneeled down to the navigator. "Since you, as we all heard, obviously _don't_ have your period, it makes me wonder all the more about your untypical behavior," she said affectionately. "Will you send me away with another scary 'Don't you dare to speak to me' again?"

Nami blushed in shame, shaking her head with a pitiful expression. "Nuh-uh. Please stay."

The archaeologist offered her a warm and understanding smile. "Do you wanna tell me what's bothering you?"

Nami gave a deep sigh. Obviously, she had reached a whole new phase right now; the I'll-need-a-whole-damn-of-a-lot-support-now-phase, also known as Robin-don't-leave-me-alone-phase. She straightened up again, beckoning her older friend to sit down next to her by patting the space beside her. While Robin obeyed her silent request and elegantly lowered herself beside Nami, the navigator took a deep breath with a distressed expression before she could bring herself to voice an explanation.

"Robin."

"Yes?"

"You're the only female support I have."

"Well, good observation there."

"That's why I'm gonna have to burden you with my problems."

Robin gave another soft giggle. "Burden me then, Nami-chan."

Nami took another deep, deep breath, but still felt like a complete and utter fool as she burrowed her face in between her knees and muffled a whiny-voiced, "Oh God, Robin."

"Yes?"

"I'm an idiot."

The archaeologist couldn't suppress a melodically laugh. "Oh really?"

Nami nodded, her face still hidden between her knees. "Yes, really."

"Then I have to ask you," Robin began with a smirk, "what in the world could possibly have you rack your brain over it so much that you'd even go as far as to call yourself an idiot."

Nami's head slowly resurfaced from between her knees, but instead of looking at her friend, she was gazing at the bit of ocean that the Going Merry was steadily leaving behind, eyes cheerless. She felt so infinitely _stupid_. For some really insane reason, Nami was so embarrassed by her incredibly _irrational_ behavior that she wasn't even able to say the reason for everything in her own thoughts. Of course she _knew_ what the reason was, she knew only too well. Of course she knew. She knew the name of the umbrella term all those strange feelings belonged to, but the same umbrella term was scaring her in such a way that all she wanted was holing up inside some kind of burrow and never return to the daylight.

But she wasn't that kind of coward. She would face up to that obstacle now, because she knew that she had always felt better as soon as she had scaled an obstacle and left it behind, and she was was sure that this was such a case. That was why she had to get over with it now. She _had_ to say it, the one thought that felt so scary and, most importantly, surreal.

_Say it. You can do it, Nami._

Just get it over with.

"I…"

-- --

"What's _up_ with Namiii?" Luffy complained whiny-voiced as he sat on the stairs by the galley, pursing his lips to a nearly offended pout.

Chopper, who was sitting right beside Luffy on the same stair and, similar to the captain, basing his face with his palms, pardon, _hooves_, launched out a helpless sigh, shrugging his furry shoulders with a depressed expression. "She's acting so _weird_. And she doesn't have her period either, she says…"

"It's like she's _sick_ or something!" Luffy exclaimed with firm conviction.

Chopper immediately spun around to him in terror. "Oh my God! Maybe she really _is_ sick after all! She could've gotten herself bitten on Sky Island! Jungles like that are full of poisonous insects, aren't they!?"

Luffy instantly started to panic. "Whaaat! NO! Chopper, you have to go and cure her right now! Nami can't die!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Tch, tch, tch," came a low voice from behind them, and when both, captain and reindeer, turned around, they spotted a smugly grinning Usopp who was casually leaning against the ship's rail as he brought up a hand to knowingly massage his chin. "You might have a point with your bite-theory. But it certainly wasn't an _animal_ who bit our honorable Miss Navigator, though."

"Really?" Chopper cried, eyes wide. "So it was a _human_, then?"

"Just who would bite _Nami_? Does she taste that good or something?" Luffy murmured to himself in confusion.

Usopp closed his eyes with a mysterious smile as he jumped off from his spot on the ship's rail and drew himself up to his full height in front of them like a western hero about to face down his gunslinging foe, which allowed him to come across as minimally more impressive. And when he reopened his eyes the next moment, he had put on such an incredibly scary-looking face that both pairs of eyes before him immediately started to sparkle with anticipation; they _knew_ that they were about to witness one of Usopp's great stories once again.

"It's neither human nor an animal. It's neither alive nor is it dead," wheezed the liar darkly. "It's neither good nor evil."

"What is it?" Luffy and Chopper whispered in perfect unison, thoroughly excited.

Usopp looked down at the two know-nothings in superiority. "A _vampire_!"

"A _vampire_!?" Chopper shrieked with a trace of panic while Luffy's eyes started to shine like the brightest lighthouse at the horizon.

"Whoa, just how cool is that! USOPP! Go get that vamp to join my crew, right now!"

"Vam_pire_, Luffy. Vam_pire_," corrected Usopp. "And besides, that won't be necessary anymore." The dark expression had vanished for a few moments, but now it returned to his otherwise so comical face. "The vampire already _is_ a part of your crew, Captain."

"WHAAAT!" the little reindeer screamed in fear.

"Whoa! COOL!" Luffy exclaimed zealously. "Who is it? Who is it!?"

Usopp offered him a smug smirk. "Didn't you see what Robin was drinking during lunch today?" When he saw the clueless gazes both were exchanging, he gladly continued, "It was _red_. Like _blood_."

"_Robin_ is the vampire!?"

"No way!"

A superior grin spread on Usopp's face. "Yes, yes, it's true!"

"What _are_ you blockheads babbling about?"

The three chaotics of the ship spun around to the blond cook of the ship as if they had just been caught red-handed while Sanji stared at them with a grimace of utter horror. There was a stunned silence for a while, in which both parties simply gaped at each other motionlessly, even the cigarette in Sanji's hand remained ignored. If an outsider could have witnessed the incident, they definitely would have been fascinated by the unbelievable comedy of this unique situation.

The first to wake from his numbness was Luffy who immediately drew a deep breath to offer his cook an explanation, but Usopp lunged at the captain, banging both his hands over his mouth with a sound so painful that Chopper actually cringed and shrank back a few steps.

"Nothing!" Usopp squeaked, forcing a nervous grin. "Nothing at all, Sanji! Don't even mind us!"

"Mmph mph mhmh?" Luffy muffled into the marksman's hand in bewilderment.

"Are you _insane_?" Usopp hissed under his breath at him; oddly enough, he had apparently understood every single word. "Sanji is on _her_ side!"

"Sanji is a vampire _too_!?" Chopper blurted out, frantically and _loud_. "So that's why he brought Robin the blood!"

"_Hah_?" Sanji could only snore as he grimaced in disbelief.

"Chopper, shut up, will you!" Usopp hissed, but the little doctor seemed like mesmerized in fear.

"The blood, you know! The blood Robin drank during lunch! You… you guys are _vampires_!"

Sanji didn't know whether he should laugh or pity him. "Chopper, that was _tomato juice_!"

That silenced the scared reindeer immediately, and Luffy also finally found the perfect moment to break free of Usopp's grasp and grimace in disgust. "Eh? Tomato juice? Well, that's yucky then!"

"Oh, so blood was _okay_!?"

"Oi! Oi, oi, _oi_! Don't listen to him, you guys!" Usopp cried out, pointing his index finger at the ship's cook as though he was accusing him of a horrible, horrible crime. "That's the same lame excuse every vampire would use! There is no other excuse for Nami's strange behavior than Robin and Sanji trying to make her one of them! I bet Sanji even was the one who bit her! It's just a matter of time until we're _all_ done for!"

"Whoa, COOL! I wanna become a vampire right now!"

"I don't! I'm definitely gonna need garlic, a cross and holy water!"

Sanji shook his head as he gave a soft laugh; those jerks were talking so much rubbish that he wasn't even able to get upset over it anymore. Then again, it wasn't completely wrong to think that _he_ was the reason for Nami's bizarre behavior. It wasn't even a surprise after the utterly strange moment on deck yesterday night. He admitted that he had enjoyed to make her lose her poise like that, but perhaps he had went just a tad too far.

But he was just way too _happy_.

He was so happy about the small singns of affection that he suddenly felt her giving him that he couldn't possibly keep it a secret anymore. He _knew_ that she cared for him much more than she would ever let on, and he was so happy about the insight that he felt as though he could take on anything and move whole mountains. Yesterday night, he had been way too _euphoric_ to not finally say it aloud. Or else it probably would have eaten him alive. He should have known that Nami would react to his advance in _that_ way, though.

A sigh came over Sanji's lips as he gazed at the steaming mug of coffee in his hand. Was she going to show up this night anyhow?

Only vaguely listening to the discussion going on between the three idiots behind him, he set forth to the afterrdeck, the only place he had not searched for Nami before. The galley had been empty when he returned (except for that shitty mossbrain, but that guy was what Sanji would call 'nobody' ); she was probably hiding from him, seeing as she was trying _everything_ to avoid him ever since last night. She had not changed even one single word with him today, which was nearly robbing him of his sanity.

The closer he was to the afterdeck, the louder female voices became: Robin and Nami.

_Bingo._

They were having a conversation, but their voices were too low and he was still too far away to understand anything. He attempted to turn the corner with a charming smile on his face to at least do her the favor of providing her with caffeine when he suddenly heard Nami call herself an idiot. Contrary to his good education and the knowledge to never eavesdrop on a girl talk, he paused right before he could turn the corner and curiously listened to Nami's angelic voice. And then she said the one sentence that turned his whole world upside down and fulfilled all of his hopes and dreams at once.

"I think I'm in love with Sanji-kun."

He almost dropped the mug.

**tbc**


	4. Cheater

**AN: **I'm such a fail, always uploading two days after I said I would. :'D But it's better than not uploading at all, right? Anyway, here's the fourth chapter. Only one more to go and we're finished. :D As always, I'm grateful for all your kind reviews. Thank you!

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**4th: **Cheater

_I said it._

Completely agitated, Nami covered her red-hot cheeks with her palms.

_I said it!_

She wouldn't even dare to look at Robin anymore, particularly since the older one was staring at her completely speechless for one whole minute already. Nami's thoughts were spinning faster than every washing machine as she frantically tried to avoid the archaeologist's gaze, her face crimson by now. Why wasn't Robin saying anything to that? Was it so unimaginable? So _strange_? The tense silence was nearly driving her insane.

_I can't stand it any longer!_

"S… say something…" Nami murmured, burying her face between her knees again.

That was when Robin apparently woke from her numbness and thoughtfully cocked her head as she eyed the navigator, inwardly amused about seeing her losing her countenance for once. It wasn't like the archaeologist had not longest _guessed_ that Nami was in love; they were living inside the same room and she noticed Nami standing up and sneaking to the deck at first hand every night, and why else would she do it over and over again if it wasn't for a man? The one that Nami had feelings for being the ship's cook wasn't a surprise either; if you asked her, it was a thing that one just couldn't help but notice, even though Zoro refused to believe her when she had addressed that topic once.

The only thing that was extraordinary about this confession was the confession _itself_.

Robin was happy though; this was the first (admittedly completely unexpected) time Nami had ever decided to share her concerns with _Robin_ instead of taking them into her own hands. The older one couldn't suppress a smile. She knew that Nami had early lost the woman that was like a mother to her, so one couldn't blame her for granting Robin that role every now and then. The girl was hoping for advice. From a woman who was older and more experienced than her. Perhaps, Nami had never really been in love before?

"Well," Robin eventually said as she gazed at the sea. "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me I'm an idiot."

"You are. You certainly are."

Nami sighed, nodding her head.

"You're an idiot," the older one told her with an amused smirk, "simply _because_ you think you're an idiot."

Nami's head resurfaced from between her arms, a bewildered frown on her face. "Huh?"

Robin turned around to her with a warm smile, resting her chin on one palm. "You might be a magnificent navigator, but you can't navigate your emotions, Nami-chan," she softly said. "Humans are absolutely defenseless when it comes to feelings. All we can do in these moments of realization is to simply surrender to them. It's pointless to try and struggle."

Nami's features tensed as she continued to chew on her lower lip, inwardly torn. "No way. Impossible," she murmured stubbornly. "I -- I can't do that."

"Oh?" Robin arched a brow in bewilderment. "Why not?"

"Because he--" the navigator cried out with force, but quickly paced herself and let her jaw snap back shut wordlessly. Narrowing her eyes and biting her lower lip again, she glanced aside with glassy eyes, murmuring once more, "Because he…"

Nami gulped hard when the single most devastating sentence crossed her thoughts again. She felt a much too familiar and unpleasing burning in her eyes as Zoro's malicious grin appeared before her inner eye, which she vainly tried to chase off. But he was staying, and he was laughing. He laughed about her and was spiteful because she was _stupid_ enough to actually believe that Sanji could settle with just one woman.

"_Because the asshat-cook obviously is a god damn cheater!"_

Nami stared into space almost desperately.

"… cheater…"

Robin's eyes widened in shock when she spotted the tear that was slowly rolling down Nami's cheek. "Nami-chan… you…"

Nami gasped in alarm and abruptly clasped her palms over her eyes to rub away those tears forming inside before she jumped up a bit shakily and forced a smile to her lips with all her might; Robin looked up at her with a mixture of pity and lack of comprehension, her hand dangling a little lost in the air after Nami had straightened up before the older one could pat her hair.

"Ha-ha!" Nami oddly laughed, scratching the back of her head. "What am I saying? In the end, it doesn't matter! Never mind all that! Just forget about everything you heard! It doesn't matter!"

Robin sighed. "Nami-chan…"

"I'll get over it in no time," she grinned, waving it off. "Just gimme one week and I'll have forgotten about all of it, you'll see!"

While Nami turned around to leave, Robin shook her head with a sigh. The girl would probably never change. The first moment she had finally opened up to her, just to close down again one moment after and burden herself with it since she was so convinced that she could work it out herself. Or she just didn't want to hear that the best solution was to confront Sanji directly and was aware that Robin had been about to suggest just that.

"But thanks anyway, Robin. For listening."

Robin looked up with a puzzled expression, but all she saw were a few red locks waving behind the corner before the navigator disappeared from her field of vision completely. The archaeologist couldn't suppress an amused smile as she turned her head to face the ocean, closing her eyes and enjoying the wind in her hair, relieved that Nami had decided to take the route to her right. If she would have taken the other one, she would have found an uncomely surprise.

Robin's smile grew.

"What are you going to do about this?" she softly asked. "Sanji?"

The cook, who still had not moved even one bit from his spot, clasped a hand over his mouth with wide eyes and a shocked expression before he glanced aside, cheeks flushed, but not surprised at all by the fact that Robin had known from the very beginning that he was there and still had kept silent up until now; it was simply her style. It was incredible, a whole _world_ of emotions was rushing right through his entire body, and suddenly he felt cold and hot at the same time. He was completely in a haze, he felt so infinitely taken by surprise, and all that even though he had already assumed that Nami did at least feel _something_ for him. But somehow, it still felt as though he just found All Blue.

She was _in love_ with him.

_In love._

_In love! _

No small half-hearted feelings, nothing insignificant, it was the big L. The _very_ big L. It was more than he had ever hoped to receive from her and more than he had ever dreamed of. And yet here she had been, declaring Robin that she was actually in love with _him_. Actually, that thought alone should already plant an almost extraterrestrial grin on his face, but when he was really honest, he was way too paralyzed at the moment. He was too _shocked_ about her approach to the subject. After all, it wasn't only him but also her who should be prancing around with a giant grin, enjoying the intoxication of love, instead of avoiding him and thinking she was an _idiot._

_Does she find it that bad?_

Did she really find it that _awful_ to be in love with him? Really? When he would worship the ground she walks on and shoot the moon down for her to give it to her along with all the stars in the sky, if she just let him. When he would do _anything_ just to make her laugh. Did she _not_ know that she was the only reason for his mere existence? He was _sure_ that he was only born so that he could meet her. She was his _destiny_.

_Cheater. _

Sanji's eyes widened abruptly when the word shot through his thoughts like a bullet, and suddenly his stomach began to churn. She had said it, right?

_Cheater._

She _had_ said it. That was it, her reason. Her reason for feeling so idiotic. _That_ was why she was miserable and _that_ was why she was avoiding him. She thought he was a _cheater_. Sanji closed his eyes and launched out a desperate chuckle.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, balling his hand to a fist.

_Oh God, she thinks I'm a cheater._

And when he was honest, he had never even attempted to prove her wrong. _Of course_ a woman like Nami would think he was a cheater at first glance for the way he was fawning over every woman he met. But wasn't it true that he was always careful to give _her_ the most attention? Wasn't it always because of _her_ whenever he ditched all the other girls coldly? Wasn't it obvious that _she_ was the most important woman in his life?

_Isn't it obvious that I love her?_

He would probably have to _yell_ it straight in her face for her to finally get it, and if the situation really demanded it, he would do just that. He needed to explain to her just what kind of person he was. He had to give her the chance to get to know him better so that she could _see_ that all the fawning, all those compliments for other women had no meaning whatsoever as long as _she_ only was by his side.

He needed to show her that he was _not_ a cheater.

_This night._

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping on you, Robin-chan."

Robin gave an amused smirk when she closed the eyes that she had let surface beside Sanji inside the wall as the cook turned around and left. She brushed a hand through her raven-colored hair as she deeply sucked in the salty air the ocean was emitting and leaned back, surprised but also touched by the fact that Sanji had even bothered to steal even one _peek_ on herself, let alone raving about her somehow.

Suddenly, she laughed.

"Cheater. _Fu_, that's funny."

-- --

"NAMI!"

The navigator blinked haggardly at her captain as he came running in her direction like a bolt of lightning, roughly grabbing her by her shoulders, a solemn expression gracing his face. Nami oddly grimaced at the sight, moving her head backwards a bit when Luffy knitted his eyebrows and looked her so deeply in the eyes as though he was trying to hypnotize her.

"What _is_ the matter, oddball?" she finally growled out peevishly.

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "You look normal."

"I wish I could say that about _you_," Nami murmured.

"Show me your neck!" he ordered her, ignoring her snotty remark and, without waiting for an answer, grabbed for her head, cocking it a bit by force and unbiddenly examining her neck with X-ray-eyes.

Nami, who blushed a decent shade of pink at the sudden contact, was so appalled that her jaw dropped down, completely taken by surprise. "W -- what's with you all of a sudden, you lunatic! Stop it!"

"I can't spot anything," Luffy murmured puzzled, though not letting go of her yet.

"If you're looking for a hickey, then how 'bout trying it tomorrow, Luffy," Zoro told him with a grin as he leaned against the mast.

"Huh? A hickey?" Luffy cocked his head in bewilderment. "Who's Nami doing the _doki-doki _stuff with?"

"Doki-doki?"

"Like sex, y'know."

Just one breath after the words came out of his mouth, a massive punch crashed upon his rubbery skull as a more than furious Nami was bristling in his ear with anger, cheeks as red and hot as fire. "With nobody, you idiot!"

"Ouch! Why're you hitting _me_!?"

"Simply because _you_ are the biggest MORON around! Why do you even know about sex!"

"Oi! I'm not a baby! Of course I'd know about something like that!"

"Shut up, you're voice is giving me a headache!"

"Nami," Chopper cut in with an expression partly scared, partly innocent. "Do you get a strange desire for blood lately?"

Nami could only gape at him completely blankly. "_HAH_?"

"Well, you know…" The little doctor kept humming and hawing for bit, nudging his hooves together before he finally spit out what the issue was. "… a… certain _thirst_…?"

The navigator narrowed her eyes. "Do I look like a _mosquito_ to you?"

"Okay, let's be straight!" Luffy called out with his forceful voice before he pointed at Nami with a grave expression as though she was on trial. "Nami! Answer only with a yes or a no! Are you a…" He made a dramatic pause. "… vampire?"

While Nami could only gape at the captain in complete consternation, an enormous and thoroughly unexpected gale of laughter emerged from Zoro, startling the trio a bit as he continued to show just how amusing he found Luffy's newest craze to be. While Luffy vainly strived to curb Zoro's laughing by angrily insinuating how serious he was about this matter (which by the way only served to make Zoro laugh even louder since he had believed it was a joke at first), Nami's eyes narrowed to a threatening glare once more.

"Don't you idiots have anything better to do with your time?" she ground out from gritted teeth.

"It was Sanji! Admit it!" Luffy exclaimed earnestly, deciding to ignore Zoro from now on.

While Nami blushed in shock, the first mate of the ship gave her a teasing grin. "Yeah, that's right. Admit it, Nami."

"What was I?"

Sanji stepped into the round with a puzzled stare and Nami immediately quick-froze. Particularly when suddenly their eyes met and he began to eye her with a piercing gaze as though he was trying to read her mind. Nami turned her head away in a reflex at lightning speed, her cheeks practically glowing. Just how in the name of Gol D. Roger was she supposed to treat him _normally_ now? It was _impossible_ to act like everything was the perfect ordinary day in their lives when nearly _everything_ changed.

"HIEEEK!"

Chopper's horrified scream abruptly fetched the navigator back to reality and the first thing she spotted was a cloud of dust right there on the spot where the little reindeer was standing just a moment ago; when she turned her head however, she saw him hiding behind Luffy the wrong way around.

"IT'S THE VAMPIRE!"

Zoro, who had actually calmed down a bit, started roaring with laughter anew. "A-ha-ha! So the ero-cook's a vampire! No wonder all the broads haul ass as soon as they see you!"

"I'm gonna kill you one day," the chef hissed at him, eyes fiery.

"Pfft, oh no! The vampire's gonna bite me! I'm scared shitless, really!"

"Why the sudden rubbish about _vampires_?" Nami remarked with a sigh, shaking her head.

"'Cause Sanji's a vampire!" Luffy declared.

Chopper gave a hasty nod. "And Robin too!"

"Ah, so you found out," Robin sighed, having decided to check for the reason behind the noise at the bow.

Sure enough, every single one on deck silenced abruptly after that nonchalant statement. Even Zoro stopped laughing for a while. All their pairs of eyes (well, that is except for Zoro's since that guy was grinning and looking forward to whatever she was plotting) widened in horror, because every single one of them knew that you _never_ really knew with Robin.

A morbid smile spread on Robin's face as she crossed her arms in front of her frame, ready to use her devil fruit powers. "Well, looks like I will have to bite you guys, then."

"HIEEEK!" Chopper desperately screamed for the second time that day, and just a millisecond later, there was once again only a cloud of dust left, however Chopper was missing (even if the lid of a nearby barrel was still shaking suspiciously).

Robin gave an amused giggle into her palm. "Fooled you."

"Oi, that was so mean!" Luffy huffed indignantly while Zoro gave a spiteful laugh.

"There's only _one_ man who's got the guts to try this sorta shit and still believes he's gonna get off the hook without any fractures," Sanji told them with a sadistic grin. "And _this _time, he's made one critical mistake by allowing me to witness the whole process live…"

The chef's eyes maliciously flashed up.

"Where's _Usopp_?"

-- --

"USOPP! COME OUT AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!"

A pocket lighter flared up inside a barrel somewhere below the deck of Thousand Sunny, illuminating the nine-inch-long nose of this ship's marksman, covered with cold sweat. Usopp gulped, trembling all over his body.

"I should be safe in here for now…"

Franky, who was currently working on a new weapon for the ship, glared icy looks of death at the barrel as it began shaking loudly.

"Oi, Long-nose," he growled. "I'm gonna have second thoughts about the alibi if you don't stop trembling. I can't concentrate on Battle Franky 37."

"I-I'm sorry, Aniki-sama…"

-- --

"Tch," Sanji hissed through his teeth, lighting himself another cigarette in anger. "That shithead can't hide forever. One day, he's gotta come out, and guess who'll be waiting."

"Yeah, go and bite him, Lady Dracula," Zoro remarked with a grin. "A few Y-chromosomes would definitely do you some good. Maybe you'll finally become a _man_."

Smiling triumphantly, the swordsman waited for one of Sanji's original insults, but contrary to his expectations, the insult failed to appear. Zoro looked up in bewilderment, not surprised at all when he realized that the blond cook was actually _ignoring_ him. Because he was much too busy gawking at Nami, who had wordlessly removed herself from the ruckus and was now standing a bit aloof from the group, bracing the weight of her body on her arms resting on the ship's rail.

"Oi, crap-bag," Zoro growled out in irritation and couldn't _believe_ that he was truly going to say this. "The coffee in that lady-palm of yours is getting cold."

The pointer actually caught Sanji's attention. He looked at Zoro in bewilderment at first, then at the mug full of coffee that he was still holding in his hand and had stopped steaming by now. Blinking dumbfounded, he eventually looked up again. Zoro rolled his eyes at the marvelously stupid expression the cook made.

"Jeez, get lost already, damn cook," the swordsman buzzed. "You're blocking the light I need for taking a nap."

Sanji couldn't help but grin about how obvious Zoro was being. He almost slipped out with a smug, 'What the hell? You _do_ know that _I_ know that there's no person who'd be able to sleep while tons of light is slamming right into his face, yeah?', but he didn't, and he was relieved that he didn't.

"Shitty swordsman."

When the cook took off, Zoro closed his eyes, grinning himself.

"Now she owes _me_ for once."

**tbc**


	5. Insanity

**AN: **Here's a small change of plan you guys might like: Since I hated the ending I gave it in the first place, I added one last chapter after this one to give it a proper end. I mean, the first version didn't even contain a kiss or anything, and I can imagine that you'll definitely want one (so do I, by the way XD). So one more to go before the grande finale. Sorry for the delay and thank you for your support!

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**4th: **Insanity

"Na--Nami-san."

He cursed himself for the way his voice was stumbling and quavering.

Nami spun around to him puzzled, eyes wide, maybe because of his uncharacteristical spluttering or perhaps even because of the mere sight of him. Sanji bashfully cleared his throat into his palm and glanced aside to yield her piercing gaze, cheeks flushed by now. He didn't want to observe her reaction to him any further. Whether she was blushing or cursing his presence, no matter what it was, he didn't think he really wanted to find out, not right now in this moment at least.

_Wimp._

He cursed himself all over again.

_It could be so easy._

"U--uhm." Shit, he was still spluttering. "Coffee."

She didn't even look at the cup when he was holding it out to her. Instead, her stare was directed at only him, questioning, curious, bewildered. Of course she was puzzled, damn it. He was definitely _not_ acting like himself at all.

Contrary to his expectations, the realization of her actually feeling the same way towards him was not sending him into a state of pure euphoria, at least not as much for him to give even more now, to win her over that is. The fact that she thought he was a cheater was too heavy, and thus baring him to really open up to her, even though it should actually only rouse his combativeness. 'Now more than ever', as they say. But no way. Absolutely nothing was happening. He was sneaking up inside his fictive shell and for the first time didn't know how he was supposed to treat a woman. How he was supposed to treat _that_ woman.

Nami also continued to act in a pretty un-Nami-like way and looked at the ground with a small sigh as she took the cup from his hand. No sugary-sweet smile that told him: 'If you do what I want something might happen between us'. No lascivious and breathy: 'Why, thank you, San-ji-_kun_'.

Just a dull-sounding, "Thanks."

Without another word or glance, she turned back around to gaze at the sea, which helped Sanji finally lift his head up a bit. He didn't quite know himself what he was feelings as he watched her delicate back. He knew the feeling so well that he took it as completely natural and granted by now. It almost _belonged _to him. Like an eye, or a hand, or a foot. Because he had always just stared at her back.

And now, now that she had finally turned around to him for once, he just didn't know how to look at her.

Sanji narrowed his eyes to a melancholic expression.

_Will you be here tonight?_

He wanted to ask the question, more than anything else. But instead, he turned away, turned around…

…and left.

-- --

It was midnight.

Sanji was lying in his hammock, wide awake. This definitely wasn't his idea of relaxation. He couldn't even _think_ of sleeping. His head was full of Nami laughing, Nami being beautiful, Nami being perfect, Nami being _in love_ with him, Nami being _in love with him_, Nami being _in love with him damn it_, that something shabby such as sleep could never find space in his mind.

He knew where he was supposed to be right now. But, even though he wasn't happy to admit it, he was _afraid_. Because he didn't know how to look at her. How could he look her in the eyes when he knew so well how poorly she was thinking of him? He didn't know how he was supposed to talk to her. How he was supposed to make her understand that he was nothing of it; unfaithful, a cheater, a liar.

_How can I face her when I don't know what to say?_

He felt so helpless. So misunderstood. Because he had no idea how he could prove her that black was white. He had nothing more to offer than words. And he was asking for nothing more than trust, but he guessed his begging was completely in vain. It was pretty clear to him; she didn't trust him. And no matter how much he wanted her (he'd rather spent another 80 days with Zeff on that island to the point of starvation than 80 days without _her_), he couldn't pretend that he didn't know she was lacking faith. And without her having faith in him, he couldn't have faith in himself either.

_This is one hell of a shitty situation, damn it._

What could he say; men were nothing but children when it was about the woman of their life.

"Oi, Sanji?"

The cook cringed in shock as he heard Usopp's halfhearted voice from the hammock to his left. He quickly peeked over and glared icy looks of death at the marksman's back for a moment before he crossed his arms behind his head and returned to scowl at the ceiling, indignantly keeping silent.

"I know you're awake, Sanji."

Sanji gave a quiet snort. He was still mad at how the sniper once again had made fun of him and, most importantly, _Nami_.

"Are you still mad?" Usopp murmured as though he had read his thoughts; Sanji wanted to reply something snotty, but the marksman was fast to continue, "Hey, I already apologized, didn't I… Whatever, I'll just do it again -- look, I'm sorry, okay? Really. But since the mood on the ship was so damn weird today, I just thought that a small lie could lighten up everyone a tad."

The cook instantly closed his mouth upon hearing that, his anger evaporating. His features relaxed and a small smirk crept out from the corners of his mouth. The idiot. Of course Usopp had meant no harm. He knew that. But he guessed he had simply needed someone to vent his frustration on. Of course he wasn't going to tell him this, but he was even a little grateful to the liar for lightening up the mood a bit – he had actually forgot all about his problems with Nami for a moment there.

"Oi, shit-head," he then said to Usopp. "Are my cigarettes within your range?"

Sanji couldn't see Usopp's relieved grin, but it wasn't even necessary, since he simply knew it was there. He caught the cigarettes with a smile when Usopp threw them over to him, fishing one out with his lips to light it. Nicotine was immediately seeping through his body in that familiar, pleasant way and he gave a content 'aah' that made Usopp chuckle softly.

There was silence for a while until Sanji audibly drew breath.

"You know, I wasn't really mad," he quietly said. "I was just in a really awful mood, because… well, I was in a shitty mood and you just happened to be on the top of my blacklist right now."

Usopp gave a soft laugh. "Yeah, I figured as much. Just wanted to be sure."

Sanji grinned faintly and took another deep draw.

"Nami was in a pretty bad mood, too," a voice from the right suddenly meddled, making the cook cringe once more as he spun around to Luffy's serious face. "I'm not a genius or anything, but I don't even have to be to notice that something's wrong with my nakama. You were both in a bad mood and you barely talked to each other at all, not even during the meals. That's odd."

Sanji narrowed his eyes, quickly looking away with rosy colored cheeks. "Shit, is this an interrogation?"

Usopp wrinkled his nose, almost indignantly. "We're worried about you guys."

Luffy nodded. "Yeah," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Did you two have a fight or something?"

Sanji sighed his anger out into the cabin together with a small cloud of smoke. "No."

"So why the hell are you still here, then?" Franky suddenly snorted from somewhere behind Luffy. "Don't you have somewhere to be right now, man?"

The cook nearly choked on the smoke of his cigarette when the shipwright's questions hit him so violently and unexpected. With cheeks glowing like Rudolph's red nose (but fortunately, it was too dark inside the cabin to see it), he stared at them in utter bewilderment. "Shit, why the bloody hell are you guys all still awake!?"

Luffy offered him a wide grin. "Well, you get up at the same hour every night…"

"… hit your toe somewhere in the darkness 'cause you're looking for your cigarettes…" Usopp continued.

"… and wake us up with it," said Franky, fairly annoyed. "We got used to it by now and now we're waking up by ourselves. Thanks a _bunch_ for that, by the way."

Sanji felt caught and nervously flipped about at the cigarette filter. "Ah," he murmured, a bit bashful. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Sanji, why are you still here?" asked the captain once more, his voice oddly careful. "Why aren't you _there_?"

"What do you mean, _there_?" the cook growled, even though he knew what he meant by _there_.

"With Nami."

Even though he had known that Luffy would say just that, it still caught him like a load of freezing water, and his eyes widened. It wasn't really that surprising that the others had noticed. It had been just a matter of time, anyway. It was the fact that his friends were sounding creepily similar to his conscience that was throwing him for a loop here.

"She's probably waiting for you, you know."

"You really shouldn't be here, Sanji," said Usopp. "It's not nice to stand someone up."

Sanji glared at the heavens; well, at the ceiling. "To stand someone up, you gotta have a date first."

"Isn't it exactly what you guys have? You're meeting up every night, aren't you?"

"Sounds pretty much like a date to me, man."

"It's _not_ a date," mumbled the chef. "It's feigned coincidences. Besides, she's not gonna show up today anyways."

Luffy blinked at him. "How do you know that?"

"I know because I know."

"What kind of answer _is_ that?" The captain gave a laugh. "You don't know about that as long as she's not said that she won't come. She'll definitely come. Nami would've told you if she wasn't going to show up."

"Yeah, she's not the kind of woman to make someone wait in vain," Usopp agreed.

"Look, curly-brow," said Franky, eyes closed. "You don't know whether she's going to come or not until you go up there and see for yourself. Nee-chan's never gonna speak to you ever again if she's there and you're not. Is that what you want?"

Sanji blinked at the spot where he supposed Franky to be, taken aback.

"I don't know about _you_, but I for one wouldn't find that super at all."

The cook gulped and gazed down at his toes peeking up from beneath the blanket. The mere thought of Nami, the most perfect and wonderful woman in all Blues (the Grand Line and the Red Line included), never speaking to him again and ignoring him for the rest of his life, was squeezing the air out of his lungs.

And suddenly, only because of that realization, he couldn't believe anymore that he was actually still lying in his hammock and talking to his friends about things that he already long knew.

_Shit, what am I DOING here!?_

Why the hell was he still here? Was he off his rocker? Was he _completely_ insane now? Out of his mind? What was he still _DOING_ here!?

"Shit, you're right," he murmured, eyes wide, completely befuddled. "God damn it, why the bloody hell am I still here?"

"Of course we're right," Usopp snickered.

"Man, get a move already. Nee-chan doesn't like to wait."

Luffy offered him a wide grin. "Good luck, Sanji!"

Without giving an answer, Sanji leaped out of his hammock and dashed over to the couch at lightning speed to snatch his jacket lying on the armrest. Ridiculous. So ridiculous that he couldn't help but give a soft chuckle. Here he had been, almost standing up the love of his life just because he was afraid that he might not be good enough for her. He couldn't believe that this had really been Black Leg Sanji having such a low self-esteem.

_I'm good enough. Because she loves me._

He spun around to his friends, offering a wide grin. "Oi, shit-heads, I'll make a huge feast tomorrow, you get that?"

Only Luffy's grin was even wider. "OH YEAH! Sanji, you're the best!"

Usopp arched a brow in bewilderment when he heard a small whimper. "U-uh, Franky…?"

"Man, this is so touching! I love the curly-brow and that nee-chan, damn it!" Tears to dimensions of the Niagara Falls were streaming down the cyborg's cheeks. "Shut up, man! I'm not crying, damn it!"

-- --

"It's half past midnight already, Nami-chan," Robin softly told her without looking up from her book. "Is it really okay not to go?"

The way the candle on the desk had Robin's face glisten a little dimly, she almost looked like those ancient statues of Greek goddesses being found in sparsely illuminated temples, Nami thought as she compared the older woman with her miserable self that was chewing awkwardly on one of her thumbnails and sitting on her bed like a pure picture of misery, wrapped in her blanket. She admired the archaeologist. She was so mature, so experienced. If Robin was in her situation, she definitely wouldn't be anxiously sitting here in the cabin, racking her brains. _She_ would definitely be long up there to find out for herself if all her fears were really justified.

Nami _knew_ that there was only one way to find out whether Zoro was right with his thoughtless (and possibly tongue-in-cheek) remark about Sanji's social life or not – and that was to face Sanji and, most importantly, her _feelings_. But she was way too afraid to find out that it was nothing but the truth. So afraid that she just couldn't bring herself to stand up.

Robin eventually looked up from her book when Nami didn't give an answer, turning around to her with a motherly smile. "Really," she softly said. "You should go."

Nami let her fingernail be a fingernail and looked up at her, insecure, nervous, confused beyond belief. "I -- I know," she spluttered hoarsely, cheeks flushing a bit in shame. "But I can't."

"Well, it's up to you, isn't it," said Robin, gazing thoughtfully up at the heavens (well, ceiling). "Aw, the poor guy. I can really visualize Sanji sitting up there on deck right now, all by his lonesome, and waiting for you. Without having a single clue that his waiting is in vain…"

Nami's eyebrow twitched with guilt.

"And then, just when he finally realizes that you won't come," continued the archaeologist with a grieved expression; Nami _knew_ it wasn't real, "it's probably too late and he miserably freezes to death. The next day, we'll only find his quick-froze dead body, cowering in one dark corner of the ship, deformed beyond recognition by countless freezer burns and wounds where the rats bit into his cold flesh…"

"W--what are you saying, Robin!" Nami shrieked in utter horror, gaping at her with shock written all over her face. "Not even Sanji-kun would be that weary of life!"

Robin gave her a look full of superior graveness. "_Never_ underestimate a man in love, Nami-chan."

For a while, Nami didn't even know how to react to this. It was only when Robin turned around to her book again that she found her voice to speak, "You… you're just trying to make me feel guilty, aren't you…"

"_Fu fu_. Who knows," the older woman giggled mysteriously.

Nami scowled darkly at the archaeoligist's back for a moment before she let her words run through her mind once more. Really slowly, really carefully, word for word. Every syllable, every single letter she had used. Over and over again.

Never underestimate a man in love.

A man _in love_.

In _love_. In _love_. In_ love_.

…Wait a minute.

_In love?_

"You really think so?" said the navigator, her voice only a faint murmur. "That Sanji-kun's in love with me?"

Nico Robin spun around to her friend in complete bafflement and _this_ was an expression that wasn't seen every day on the archaeologist's self-controlled and calm face. She blinked at Nami in surprise and the navigator was staring right back at her, questioningly, _hopefully_. She couldn't believe that Nami actually didn't know.

"Nami-chan," she eventually said, taken aback. "It's _obvious_, isn't it?"

Nami's eyes widened in shock, her cheeks flushing a deep shade of crimson. She buried her face into the pillow she was holding in her arms, squeezing her eyes shut so tight that she saw a million of funny colors. Obvious. Was it really? Why couldn't she herself see it then? Why did it feel like she was chasing after an unreachable illusion? Why was she so afraid to have faith?

She bit her lower lip. "So -- so what. One of us is going to end up being hurt, and something's telling me that it's _not_ gonna be him."

"Well, you don't know until you find out for yourself," said Robin, smirking. "You can do it if you try, as they say."

Nami scowled at her feet. "What kind of idiot said that in the first place?"

Robin smiled widely. "Probably the guy who tried and succeeded, I'd say."

The navigator looked up with a mixture of disbelief and amazement.

"Besides," continued Robin, "it's definitely worth to take the risk of failing if there's a chance of finding happiness, don't you think?"

Disbelief and amazement changed to anger and embarrassment as Nami looked down again since she found no words to object. "Yeah, but even so…" She never finished the sentence. Instead, she bit her lower lip once more.

Robin closed her book and smiled. "If I may give my personal opinion to the subject," she said and Nami wondered if she even realized that she had always been doing that to begin with. "I don't think that Sanji is a cheater, not at all. He's more like the sort of man who is desperately in search, but as soon as he finds the one, completely devotes himself to the relationship with his body and soul. And it looks to me like this pot here has long found his lid."

Nami stared at the strange pattern the drapery was making on the blanket, cheeks glowing bright red.

"And if you're really, really honest, Nami-chan," continued the archaeologist, her voice soft, "you already knew that."

The younger one narrowed her eyes, bracing her arms on her knees and resting her chin beetween them. "So am I running away then, Robin?"

"You're afraid. And it's okay that you are." Robin smiled like only an experienced woman could smile. "When you're in love, you feel the need to possess. But when you love, you feel the need of _being_ possessed. Being possessed means to devote oneself to the point of feeling afraid to lose him. You subconscious probably went through that scenario a dozen of times already, until your human reflex reacted and now your gut instinct makes you believe that you would be better off not even trying. So you're looking for flaws and reasons why it'd better to forget all about him."

Robin's smile became wider, warmer.

"This only shows how much you love him, though."

Nami was completely incapable to answer in any form (partly because this was the most she heard Robin talk in a row in days), and thus only gaped at her in utter surprise, her mouth opening and closing voicelessly. Honestly, that woman always managed to throw her a curve. She couldn't believe how damn much sense all this made. How much it actually _sounded_ like herself, like her way of acting. When she couldn't withstand the knowing gaze of the archaeologist any longer and even her inner voice seemed speechless for once, she quickly looked away and began to chew on her lower lip in confusion.

_She's right, isn't she?_

"I think," said Robin as though she just read her thoughts, gazing outside the porthole with a smile, "you know quite well what you have to do now."

Nami lifted her face, nervously, knowingly, embarrassed.

Robin pointed to the door with a nod of her head. "He's waiting for you, Nami-chan."

Nami hesitantly glanced at the door from the corners of her eyes, sighing against her pillow; her breath was warming it up in a comforting way. He was waiting for her. Up there. When she was honest, he had always been waiting for her. And when she was really, really honest, she had always been making him wait.

_It's about time something changed, huh?_

She gave a soft smile.

"Yeah."

**tbc**


	6. Moonlight

**AN: **Finally, here it is, the last chapter. Took me quite long, but hey, I wasn't planning for it to have six chapters. But anyway, thank you so much for reading my little fic, and enjoying it to the very end. I hope the chapter didn't turn out _too_ corny. X'D Enjoy!

Diclaimer: Do not own. Bleh.

**Sentimental Labyrinth**

**Last: **Moonlight

_She's not going to come, huh?_

Sanji couldn't help but laugh a bit, even if it sounded more like a small and desperate groan. It was _damn_ cold outside on deck in the middle of the night. He puffed tiny clouds of smoke through his lips, although he wasn't holding a cigarette in his hand at the moment - if only because his fingers were so frozen by now that even the mere thought of motion hurt. He brought his trembling hands up to his mouth to warm up the ice cubes he called his fingers at least a bit with his breath; it didn't work, but he wanted to leave no stone unturned while he was waiting.

Waiting for Nami.

He couldn't believe that he was actually still waiting. It was definitely already past one a.m. or later even, yet she still had not showed up. This could only mean that she obviously never even intended to show up to begin with. He was waiting in complete vain here. Probably only for his own death, seeing how freezing the cold of night was. And his rattling teeth were more than enough evidence that the Grim Reaper wouldn't keep him waiting for much longer. Jeez, his teeth were really rattling.

Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta.

Like a machine gun.

_She won't come._

Shit, it was cold.

"Sanji-kun…?"

If his facial muscles weren't long frozen by now, his eyes definitely would have widened at the sound of _her_ voice. It was too cold to turn his head around in her direction, he could only peer at her from the corners of his eyes and hope that she wasn't a hallucination his brain was projecting to grant himself a last wish before death would take him from this world. But when she was standing at the exact same spot even one minute after that, with an unfathomable expression on her incredibly _divine_ face, enveloped in a warm woolen blanket and glowing in the moonlight, he actually managed to bring a quavering smile on his lips.

"Y-you a-a-actually c-came."

God, he sounded pathetic.

Nami knitted her brows to an angry expression, but he noticed the gush of guilt in her eyes anyhow. "You're a god damn retard! You'll actually hold out for an hour in the cold only to wait for me? Are you _insane_!?"

He nearly laughed. That was so like his Nami-san. "W-well," he murmured with chattering teeth. "Yeah." Yes to everything.

"Idiot," she mumbled in bewilderment, hunkering down before him to bring out a second blanket to wrap around his shoulders; he immediately heard himself give a small sigh of contentment when the cold was replaced by warmth. "You better thank God that I'm not as weary of life as you are to forget to bring a blanket with me. Just what in the world is wrong with you? Why are sitting outside wearing nothing but that thin jacket?"

Sanji nestled closer into the blanket and sniffed. "I never thought it would be so cold tonight," he said bashfully. "Today was one hell of a hot day."

Nami offered him a disbelieving stare. "This _is_ the Grand Line, you know."

The cook gave a faint laugh. "Right."

She eyed him for a _long_ time until she finally straightened up and sat down beside him at the ship's rail. Sanji peered over to her, and simply admired her stunning beauty for a moment, not daring to ruin the moment with any sort of unnecessary words. He wanted to savor this. The unique moment where both knew what the other felt and still never really said it. He was completely incapable of describing what he was feeling at the moment. He was so damn _happy_ and _relieved_, but at the same time he felt really small and helpless.

Nami was simply driving him crazy. So he kept silent rather than giving his voice the chance to betray him.

"I'm sorry."

Okay, he definitely didn't expect _that_.

Sanji blinked at her, eyes wide in utter surprise. "Sorry for what, Nami-san?"

Nami was silent for a while as she rested her chin on her knees covered by the blanket, the look in her eyes was somewhere between melancholically and conscience-stricken. "I made you wait again," she said with a soft, totally un-Nami-like voice.

Sanji didn't quite understand. "Again?"

"You know what I mean," she whispered with flushed cheeks, consciously avoiding looking at him. "I think you know exactly what," she oddly gestured around with her hand, "_this_ means."

He blinked at her in puzzlement at first until he finally fathomed what she was driving at. A teasing grin spread on his face. "Ah," he said in realization as he lit himself a cigarette at last. "Well, I guess it means you _like_ me."

Nami's cheeks spontaneously heated up to a deeper shade of red, and the cold suddenly wasn't as cold anymore. "Moron…"

"That doesn't answer my question," Sanji said with a grin.

Nami scowled at him. "It wasn't a question to begin with, idiot."

"Touché, Mademoiselle," said the cook with a laugh, blowing a cloud of smoke into the night. "I should rephrase it."

He consciously smiled at her in his most charming way and his heart skipped a beat when Nami actually blushed.

"Do you _like_ me, Nami-san?"

Nami gazed at him firmly, even if something inside her eyes showed her insecurity. When she couldn't endure his smiled and that piercing look, she turned her face away, trying to hide her fervent cheeks, although she knew he had long seen it. But it was just like her. Even before she turned away, Sanji had known that she wouldn't look at him while she said the words.

"Yeah, I _like_ you."

Sanji couldn't suppress a blissful grin as he bent forward to her, spreading his arms for an embrace. "I knew it!"

"Oi, oi, Casanova." Nami rolled her eyes with a small smile, placing a hand on his chest to shove him back to his spot beside her. "First things first, okay?"

"But you're making me so _happy_," he said, beaming at her like a little boy who just received the gift he had wished to have for so long. "I can't help it. You have no idea how long I've waited to here that from your lips, Nami-san."

Her smile faded and an unfathomable expression remained. "Now that you know why _I_ am here," she said with a low voice, "don't you have something to tell me, too?"

"But Nami-san!" he suddenly exclaimed vigorously, his expression showing concern as he softly cupped her face with both his hands. "You _know_ that I love you, don't you?"

Nami was struck by his exclamation as though a snowball just hit her face. For a moment, she was so speechless, so dumbfounded and, yes, _shocked_, that her eyes widened and her lips formed a small O. But when she realized what he just _said_ and how _close_ they actually were, the feeling of his cold hands on the warm skin of her heated cheeks and the way her heart was pounding savagely against her chest, like bomb impacts, _ba-dom ba-dom ba-dom_, she finally snapped out from her state of shock and nervously grabbed his hands to pull them off of her face.

Blinking in puzzlement, Sanji watched her turn her face away from him quickly. "Nami-san?"

"_That_," she told him with a weak voice, "was without a doubt the single most unromantic confession of all time."

Sanji was taken aback at first, but then he turned away in embarrassment, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he murmured, burying his head between his arms almost desperately. "Ah shit, what's the matter with me? Here you are, sitting right beside me and actually telling me you _like_ me while you look so stunningly irresistible, and… and what am _I_ doing?"

Nami arched a brow in disbelief. Stunningly irresistible? No make-up, unkempt, in pajamas?

"Usually," continued the cook abashed, "I would've prepared you a candlelight dinner or a picnic in the moonlight or I would've at least ordered a violist quartet to play a romantic love song while I'm waiting for you in the middle of a field of candles, holding a bouquet with one hundred long Baccara roses, but…" He gave a lost sounding laugh as he ran a hand through his hair once more; Nami knew it was a habit of his whenever he got nervous. "Well, actually I've already done a few of that for you… Actually, I've pretty much done _all _of it already… and it's getting old."

Nami's eyes narrowed. "That wasn't _me_, Sanji-kun."

Sanji raised his hands, laughing nervously. "Oh no, no really, it _was_ you, all of it. Just… something always went wrong and as long as not everything's perfect, I didn't want you to…" He never finished the sentence, instead he gave a sigh. "I guess I was just scared shitless of your reaction to my feelings. That you… ah, you know. Wouldn't take me seriously."

"Can you really blame me for that?" murmured the navigator with a solemn face. "You're constantly slobbering over each and every woman, shower them all with your compliments, and anticipate their every wish… How am I supposed to take you seriously knowing that?"

Sanji vehemently shook his head. "No! With you, it's different, Nami-san. You're--"

"Special?" she suggested with a sad smile, finishing his transparent sentence for him. "As far as I know, Robin's just as special. And Vivi was special, too." When she looked at him, her eyes seemed oddly dull. "At first, I really believed you when you said I was special. For those first few days after we met, I really thought your feelings were real. Love at first sight or something. Then however…"

She fell silent for a moment, and Sanji grasped the moment to explain himself. "But I--"

Nami's hand gently landed on his mouth, thus muffling any other words. "No. Just listen to me." It wasn't an order, nor was it a bossy command; it was a request. "What I'm about to tell you now isn't quite easy for me. I wouldn't even admit it to myself back then. So just listen to me, you reckless jerk."

Sanji nearly laughed a bit about her halfhearted attempt to insult him, but when she took her hand away, his face was still as serious as it was before. He would quietly listen to what she had to say to him. After everything he must have put her through, she deserved as much.

"After Arlong's defeat," she began with a throaty voice. "During the big party, after I got my tattoo finished. I… I went to look for you right away. I wanted…" She bit her lower lip while Sanji blinked at her in surprise. "I don't even remember what I've been meaning to tell you anymore. Maybe 'Thanks', or 'Good job', or maybe something like 'Hey, you know, I have the feeling that things could work out between us if you're really as serious as I think you are', and… and when I found you, you were telling some other girl the same crap you used to tell _me_ all the time."

_Oh shit_, Sanji could only think while he gulped.

"And do you know what I did then?" Nami asked rhetorically. "I fetched myself a bottle of rum and got majorly drunk. Nojiko thinks you're an insensitive bastard now by the way, because for some reason, I was so incredibly pissed at you that I was talking about nothing else for the whole night. After that, I talked myself into believing that I've never felt more for you than friendship. And the issue was settled for good." She smirked a bit. "I've still made you suffer a bit for it by taking full advantage of your weakness."

Sanji forced a halfhearted grin to his lips. "That makes a lot more sense than Zoro's theory about you being Satan's daughter."

"Well, I'm resentful."

Sanji gave a low chuckle as Nami boldly stuck her tongue out at him, but his laugh sounded forced even to himself and not even half as honest as he had intended to make it sound. It was hard to laugh, at least in this very moment. To him, all this smelled suspiciously like one of those famous and dreaded I-might-love-you-but-sometimes-love-just-isn't-enough-so-I-think-it's-better-for-us-to-stay-friends-talks. But it couldn't end like this. In the one hour he had been waiting here, he came up with about hundred very good and convincing reasons why this could work. Much to his dismay, not even one of them seemed to occur to him, which meant he would have to improvise. But he really wanted to explain to her that he didn't match the picture she had of him. He was a different, a better man than the one she thought she knew.

"I wanna explain," he softly said, nearly pleading. "So please listen to me like I listened to you."

Nami stared at him for a while, and then she nodded slowly, in silence. She would listen.

"Raving over women," he said, "is a part of me. Just like cooking and smoking and Allblue. I can't switch off any of it. I can't turn my personality around and try to be someone I'm not. Women are an important part of my life, something that deserves to receive a lot affection and respect from at least one man on this planet. I learned that a man should always worship the ground they walk on and show them how wonderful each and every single one of them really is. But just because I give them all the feeling that they're special doesn't mean they have a place in my heart – at least not as something _you_ think they are."

Nami held her breath for moment when he took her hand in his and looked her deeply in the eyes with a gravely expression.

"I'm a faithful man, Nami-san."

Nami was still not breathing.

When he continued, he almost looked like a lost little boy. "And if there's one thing I wish for more than finding Allblue then it's _love_. I wanna find a woman to spend my life with. A woman who loves me unconditionally, so much that she'll stay by my side even when I'm old and shriveled. A soul mate," he murmured longingly. "But a woman like that is hard to find. You have to search the whole horizon and every corner of the world to find a woman like that. And you, you never gave me the feeling that you're that woman. I mean, I was always _sure_ that you're her, but it was as if you'd try everything in your power to make me realize that I became obsessed with something that's never going to happen…"

Nami bit her lower lip guiltily. Well, he had a point there.

"So I kept searching, but…" He gave a faint laugh. "Somehow, no woman is fit to hold a candle to you. No one was ever able to drive me out of my head like you can do with just one small glance in my direction."

Her mind went blank when he took her second hand.

"I love you."

Oh God, she was going to faint…

_Focus, Nami, focus._

"And if you give me just one chance," he murmured, "I promise you that I'll make you so happy that everything horrible in your past completely fades away little by little."

Nami offered him an affectionate smile. "Wow. Actually, you never had to go through all the effort to give a speech. When I'm really honest, I don't even care about all that."

Sanji blinked at her in confusion. _Huh?_

"The other girls, the flirting, even the fear that you could be unfaithful, none of it matters," she softly said. "I was stupid enough to fall in love with you anyway. And a very wise person once told me that no one can navigate feelings, and least of all suppress them."

Sanji looked like he had completely lost track of her. "You don't care?"

She released her hand from his grasp to place it on his cheek. "To be more frank, I don't give a _damn_. I want you anyway, with all your annoying quirks and faults. I want the whole Sanji-package."

Sanji gave a disbelieving laugh while his thumb was softly stroking over the cold skin of the back of her hand. And at the sight of her bashful smile, he knew that he would never forget this moment. The one-of-a-kind moment where the most incredible and exciting adventure of his life began.

"Just so you know," he whispered as he leaned down to her until the tips of their noses touched. "I'm going to kiss you now."

Nami barely had time to grin before he pressed his cold lips to her at least just as cold mouth. And even if the kiss was physically freezing, metaphorically it was red-hot. She didn't even care that his lips were rough from the cold, nor did she care that she was trembling so violently that her jaw wouldn't exactly move the way she wanted it to; it was still absolutely and without exaggeration by far the best kiss anyone had ever given her. A kiss so good that she wished it was the last first kiss of her life. A kiss so damn _right_ that all the questions and doubts immediately fell off of her mind. She _knew_ that this could actually work.

They would _make_ it work.

Sanji drew back from her lips only so much that he could speak. "Watch me, gorgeous. I'm gonna prove to you that I'm the most faithful man alive," he told her with a smile, his warm breath tickling her face. "Just tell me how."

"Well," Nami murmured, arching a brow. "You could stop flirting with other women for one."

"Ha-ha," he nervously laughed. "How about you think of something else?" Nami halfheartedly slapped his cheek and he grinned. "Hey, I can't help that I love to flirt."

Nami narrowed her eyes. "You love it a little too much for my taste."

"But Nami-san, don't you know," he murmured with a playful grin. "You'll feel hungry looking at food, but you'll only eat at home. Because home is where the food is best, my sweet."

"Yeah, particularly when you had to wait so long to taste this luxury food, eh?" Nami teased with a grin.

"It was worth it though," Sanji murmured as he kissed her. "Every single second of despair."

While his lips were drifting from her mouth down her neck, Nami bit her lower lip with a smirk. "But just for the record, my friend," she murmured mischievously. "As soon as you even peek at another woman, I _will_ whack you. Mere compensation. You know, just for my salvation."

Sanji gave a laugh. "Deal."

-- --

"You know, I'm not really sure about this anymore…"

"Shht. This is epic."

"I never expected you to be the type to make random gifts."

"Oh, I _love_ making gifts. Especially gifts to _them_. And especially _these_ sort of gifts."

"And they're really going to like it? Something tells me Sanji and Nami might not find it awesome at all…"

A dark grin flashed up in the night up in the crow's nest while the tone dial was shut off with a click.

"Trust me, Chopper. Those two will be _hopping_ mad--glad." Zoro had never been this spiteful in his life. "Putting it frankly, they're gonna like it so much that Nami will abate our debts right away and the damn cook serves us the same good food as the girls from now on. Heh-heh-heh."

Chopper shrank away at the sight of Zoro's nearly lunatic grin.

"Heh," snickered the swordsman once more. "This is the fucking best day of my life."

**end**


End file.
